DVD Drive Problem

My DVD Drive that had been in my Desktop PC for a few years would no longer read the DVD's. The drive light would come on and the door would open, but no reading. I decided to buy a new drive. I installed it, the light works but the door does not open. I have pushed the button and also in Computer I clicked on the Eject in the Properties Menu. Nothing. I figured a bad drive and returned it and got a different brand. It is the same thing, the light works but the door won't open with neither the button nor by clicking the eject menu. I was able to open it in the Manual Release with a paper clip and put a DVD in it but it does not read it as in Computer it says "Please insert a DVD". I changed the Sata cable and used a different port on the Motherboard, no luck. == I now figure my original drive was OK and the PC just does not read the discs. The strange thing is about the door not opening. Anyone have any ideas on this? Thanks,

Does it show a DVD in the BIOS under drives. If so then it seems that it's being detected, if not it could be a driver or MB problem.

Also have a look in Device Manager & see if it shows as being installed & if there are any warnings showing.

Ranger4 said:

Does it show a DVD in the BIOS under drives. If so then it seems that it's being detected, if not it could be a driver or MB problem.

Also have a look in Device Manager & see if it shows as being installed & if there are any warnings showing.

It does show in Device Manager as OK. It shows all Drivers OK in Device Manager. == Drive shows OK in Explorer. I checked the Bios and in one place it shows OK, but in another place in Bios where it should also show, it does not. == Since on the two new drives I purchased, the door would not open and it did not read the disks, I put the original drive in again. At least the door opens. It still is not reading, but I figured since the new drives are not reading, the the original drive must be OK. I am at a loss and running out of ideas.

The actual door opening mechanism is part of the drive. The mechanical bit that is. Yes, it can get a signal from the computer to open the door, but the actual logic and control exists in the drive.

I don't have a solution for you, other than to say that it sounds like you've had two bad drives in a row.

Thanks Mellon Head. I guess today I will take the drive back and get another one. This is the strangest thing I have seen in a while. I just find it hard to believe that I found two found drives, but what else could it be. Thanks again.

YEA BABY.............I solved it. I must have read 300 posts of guys who had the same problem on various forums. No one had an answer. One post, I repeat, one post said that his drive was not putting out enough electricity to spin the disc. This sounded exactly like my problem. I had tried two new DVD drives and they had not worked, low electricity maybe. I took the PC cover off and checked the molex to DVD cable. One of the four molex wires was barely making contact as it was pushed below the others. I changed cables and BINGO. You have no idea how good I feel at this time. Thanks for those who posted to my question.

Hi,
What brand and exact model are you getting and from where ?

I got an LG and Asus from Fry's. I don't know the exact model. The drive wasn't the problem anyway. It was low electricity as my original drive works now. Thanks,

Outstanding! Glad you got it fixed. :)

Not sure I understand the low electricity part ?
What does that mean low battery ?

I had a little moment with a LG WH16NS30 is why I was asking about which model,
My LG had a moment with a win-7 pro install disk which that disk will not boot anymore did once and capote no more :/